Managing, importing, and exporting teamspace templates and teamspaces in content repositories

ABSTRACT

Provided are techniques for managing, importing, and exporting teamspace templates and teamspaces in content repositories. A file is created using a teamspace template and associated metadata at a first content repository. The file is exported from the first content repository to a second content repository, wherein the file can be used to create a teamspace instance at the second content repository.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application and claims thebenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/841,274, filed Mar. 15, 2013,and the entire contents of this application are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate to managing, importing, andexporting teamspace templates and teamspaces in content repositories.

BACKGROUND

A content management system enables management of content in a contentrepository. A teamspace (also referred as a project area) may includefolders, documents, and other artifacts (content) within a contentrepository. Typically, a system administrator provisions a teamspace toa team of people for use in their collaboration on a project.

SUMMARY

Provided are a method, computer program product, and computer system formanaging, importing, and exporting teamspace templates and teamspaces incontent repositories. A file is created using a teamspace template andassociated metadata at a first content repository. The file is exportedfrom the first content repository to a second content repository,wherein the file can be used to create a teamspace instance at thesecond content repository.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers representcorresponding parts throughout:

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing environment in accordance with certainembodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates embedded databases in accordance with certainembodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a roles table in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a table for a teamspace template or a teamspace inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate, in a flow diagram, operations to create ateamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate, in a flow diagram, operations to create ateamspace in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates, in a flow diagram, operations to create a runtimeteamspace in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface for a client interface of ateamspace template builder in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface for a teamspace template builder fordefining a contract teamspace template in accordance with certainembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface for selecting searches inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a user interface for selecting classes or entrytemplates in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a user interface for selection of folders anddocuments in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a user interface for predefining roles in accordancewith certain embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates teamspace templates with decomposition rules andlife cycle rules in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates an import/export framework of teamspaces andteamspace teamplates in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates a user interface with a list of teamspace templates,an export button, and an import button in accordance with certainembodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a user interface with a teamspace template and anexport button 1610 selected in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates a user interface with an import button selected inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 19 illustrates a user interface after a file has been imported inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates a user interface for a teamspace template builderfor validating an imported file in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 21 illustrates in a flow diagram, operations to export a teamspaceand/or a teamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 22 illustrates, in a flow diagram, operations to import a teamspaceand/or a teamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 23 illustrates a cloud computing node in accordance with certainembodiments.

FIG. 24 illustrates a cloud computing environment in accordance withcertain embodiments.

FIG. 25 illustrates abstraction model layers in accordance with certainembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing environment in accordance with certainembodiments. In FIG. 1, a client computing device 100 is coupled to aserver computing device 150. The client computing device 100 includes aself-provisioning system 110 a. The server computing device 150 includesa self-provisioning system 110 b, a content management system 160, andone or more teamspace templates 162. In certain embodiments, theself-provisioning system provided by embodiments includes a client-sideself-provisioning system 110 a and a server-side self-provisioningsystem 110 b that work together.

The server computing device 150 is coupled to a content repository 180.The content repository 180 includes a content management database 182,artifacts 188 (also referred to as content), and metadata 190. Theartifacts may include, for example, folders, documents, classes, entrytemplates, searches, and roles. The content management database 182 maystore metadata 190 about artifacts 188. The artifacts 188 may include,for example, documents, images, e-mails, etc. The content managementsystem 160 manages the artifacts 188 in the content management database182. The content management database 182 includes metadata that providesstructure around unstructured artifacts 188 that a user adds to thecontent management system 160. The content management database 182 alsoprovides the security and classification of the managed artifacts 188.With embodiments, the content management database 182 also includes oneor more teamspace embedded databases 184 and one or more teamspacetemplate embedded databases 186.

In certain embodiments, an embedded database may be described as ateamspace instance definition (for a teamspace embedded database 184) ora teamspace template definition (for a teamspace template embeddeddatabase 186). The embedded database defines the scope of what artifactsare contained in the teamspace, what artifacts can be added to theteamspace, and what role-based security is applied to the teamspace. Ateamspace instance may be described as defining a working teamspace,which includes both existing and new artifacts created by team membersusing the teamspace. Team membership role-based security is applied tothe teamspace instance.

The self-provisioning system 110 a allows organizations to developteamspace templates that describe the manner in which business userswill generate teamspaces. A teamspace template is used to accelerate thebusiness user's ability to self-provision teamspaces.

A teamspace may consist of folder structures, secured by user-definedrole-based security definitions, as well as, a descriptor. A folderstructure may be described as identifying folders for storing thedocuments and providing a relationship between the folders (e.g., ahierarchical relationship between the folders). The descriptor maydesignate how users are to: add, edit, view, and approve documents;search and view activities inside the team space and the life cyclegovernance policy for the teamspace. To allow for simplified role-basedsecurity setup, embodiments provide a new mechanism for generating rolesand mapping users and groups to roles. The role-based security modelprovides a customizable technique for determining access rights toteamspaces.

With embodiments, when the content repository 180 is provisioned, a newdatabase is embedded within the content management database 182. Incertain embodiments, the embedded database may be implemented using afile based database (e.g., JavaScript® Object Notation (JSON),JavaScript® is a trademark of Oracle Corporation in the United States,other countries, or both). In certain embodiments, the embedded databaseis stored in a table of the content management database 182 as a BinaryLarge Object (BLOB) field or Character Large Object (CLOB) field. Incertain embodiments, unique identifiers (IDs) of items that areprovisioned are added to the embedded database. Hence, whenever newartifacts are added to a teamspace, the artifacts are stored in thecontent management database 182, and the unique IDs of the items areadded to the teamspace embedded database 184.

In certain embodiments, the teamspace embedded database 184 is managedindependently of the content management database 182, thereforenon-administrative content management users may create and controlaccess to the teamspace.

In certain embodiments, a separate table in the content managementdatabase 182 is used to store a list of roles that may be applied to ateamspace. Each role contains one or more permissions that may begranted to users of a teamspace. When a teamspace is created, each useris assigned zero or more roles that define what access permissions theuser will have. This process creates an Access Control List (ACL) foreach teamspace. This ACL maps the permissions assigned by the roles tothe underlying content management security permissions. The mappingcontrols which actions may be performed on items in the teamspace andthe teamspace itself. In certain embodiments, when new artifacts (e.g.,documents or folders) are added, the new artifacts (e.g., the documentsor folders) inherit the security of the teamspace.

Teamspace templates may be stored in an embedded database similar toteamspaces. However, the teamspace template embedded databases 186 maybe stored in a separate table from the teamspace embedded databases 184so that access control for who can create teamspace templates may bemanaged independently of access control for who can create teamspaces.Thus, a user who has permission to create teamspaces may not havepermission to create teamspace templates. When a teamspace template isused to create a teamspace, a copy of the teamspace template embeddeddatabase is retrieved and used to create the teamspace embeddeddatabase. In certain embodiments, the teamspace template embeddeddatabase provided by the teamspace template is the base for what isgenerated to create the teamspace instance. A teamspace may extend orchange certain aspects of the teamspace template embedded databaseprovided by the teamspace template, but the teamspace uses the teamspacetemplate embedded database as the starting point. The teamspace templateembedded database provides the roles that are used to apply therole-based security on the teamspace instance, and the teamspacetemplate also contains the role definitions.

Once the teamspace is created, users that are assigned to the ACL havethe ability to retrieve and work with data within the teamspace.

FIG. 2 illustrates embedded databases in accordance with certainembodiments. In FIG. 2, a content management database 200 stores userroles 204, a teamspace template table 212, and a teamspace table 222.The teamspace template table is associated with an ACL 214 and a BLOB216 to form a teamspace template embedded database 210. The teamspacetable 222 is associated with an ACL 224 and a BLOB 226 to form ateamspace embedded database 220.

FIG. 3 illustrates a roles table 300 in accordance with certainembodiments. The roles table 300 includes columns for: name,description, and permissions (privileges). The name is the identifier ofa role. The description describes the purpose of the role. Thepermissions are a collection of teamspace access rights. These teamspaceaccess rights include, for example, the ability create and removeartifacts (e.g., content) from the teamspace.

FIG. 4 illustrates a table 400 for a teamspace template or a teamspacein accordance with certain embodiments. Table 400 includes columns for:a name, a description, a BLOB, and state. The name is either the name ofa teamspace template or the name of a teamspace instance. Thedescription describes the purpose of either the teamspace template orthe teamspace instance. The BLOB represents the embedded database of theteamspace template or the teamspace instance. The state describes thestate of either the teamspace template or the teamspace instance.Examples of valid states include, requires validation, offline,published, deleted, archived, etc.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate, in a flow diagram, operations to create ateamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.

In certain embodiments, self-provisioning system 110 a andself-provisioning system 110 b work together to perform the processingof FIGS. 5A and 5B. In certain embodiments, the self-provisioning system110 a prompts the user for template definition input and gathers theuser's responses, which are then used to fill out the teamspace templatedefinition 110 b, which is then persisted by self-provisioning system110 b to content repository 180.

Control begins at block 500 with the self-provisioning system 110 areceiving an indication that a new teamspace template is to be created.In block 502, the self-provisioning system 110 a invokes a teamspacetemplate builder. In block 504, the self-provisioning system 110 adefines one or more classes and/or entry templates. The classes andentry templates may be described as teamspace characteristics. In block506, the self-provisioning system 110 a defines one or more searches.The teamspace template searches are pre-defined queries.

In block 508, the self-provisioning system 110 a sets the teamspacetemplate name and description. From block 508 (FIG. 5A), processingcontinues to block 510 (FIG. 5B).

In block 510, the self-provisioning system 110 a identifies one or morefolders having one or more documents. The folders and documents may bedescribed as teamspace characteristics. Part of the processing of block510 sets up rules for where documents are to be contained or referencedwithin the teamspace. In block 512, the self-provisioning system 110 aadds teamspace template roles. In block 514, the self-provisioningsystem 110 a and self-provisioning system 110 b save the teamspacetemplate.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate, in a flow diagram, operations to create ateamspace in accordance with certain embodiments. Creation of ateamspace may also be referred to as creation of a teamspace instance.Control begins at block 600 with the self-provisioning system 110 areceiving an indication that a new teamspace is to be created. In block602, the self-provisioning system 110 a invokes a teamspace templatebuilder.

In block 604, the self-provisioning system 110 a obtains a snapshot of aselected teamspace template. In certain embodiments, theself-provisioning system 110 a generates the snapshot. The teamspaceinstance may be generated at any time after the processing of block 604(in which the snapshot is obtained). Optionally, the snapshot may bemodified. In certain embodiments, a snapshot may be described asrepresenting the teamspace template definition plus any changes oradditions the end user makes to the teamspace template definition in theteamspace template builder during the self-provisioning process (e.g.,adding/removing reference searches, adding/removing folders anddocuments, adding team members and assigning them to the team roles(defined by the teamspace template definition), etc.).

In block 606, the self-provisioning system 110 a determines whether thesnapshot of the selected teamspace template is to be modified. Incertain embodiments, the user determines whether to change a snapshot ofthe teamspace template. However, the actual teamspace templatedefinition is not changed. In certain embodiments, a snapshot of theteamspace template is used as a starting point to generate a teamspaceinstance. If so, processing continues to block 608 (FIG. 6B), otherwise,processing continues to block 610 (FIG. 6B). In block 608, theself-provisioning system 110 a edits properties set by the selectedteamspace template. In block 610, the self-provisioning system 110 aadds users and/or groups to the teamspace. The users and/or groups mapto the roles defined for the teamspace template. In certain embodiments,the user defining the teamspace instance, from the teamspace templatesnapshot, may map users and groups to the roles defined by the teamspacetemplate. In block 612, the self-provisioning system 110 a creates theteamspace instance from the snapshot of the selected teamspace template.

FIG. 7 illustrates, in a flow diagram, operations to create a runtimeteamspace in accordance with certain embodiments. Control begins atblock 700 with the self-provisioning system 110 a receiving selection ofa teamspace (e.g., from a list of teamspaces). In block 702, theself-provisioning system 110 a receives selection of “open” teamspace(e.g., via selection of an open teamspace button, command, or menu). Inblock 704, the self-provisioning system 110 a opens a teamspace runtime.Opening a teamspace runtime may be described as a retrieval of theteamspace instance definition, objects referenced in the teamspaceembedded database, and the list of team members (users and groupsgranted access to the teamspace). In block 706, the self-provisioningsystem 110 a modifies one or more artifacts (e.g., the content) of theteamspace. Modifying the one or more artifacts includes addingartifacts, deleting artifacts and/or updating artifacts.

In block 708, the self-provisioning system 110 a saves the one or moreartifacts of the teamspace. In certain embodiments, users withappropriate authority may optionally edit the teamspace embeddeddatabase, but general runtime changes to documents and folders withinthe teamspace do not change the teamspace embedded database.

FIGS. 8-13 describe a business use case in which an administrator orbusiness analyst defines a contract teamspace template that captures atypical set of artifacts that a set of end users may leverage increating a new contract. The contract teamspace template is selected bythe end user to stream line the self-provisioning of a teamspaceinstance in the content management database.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface 800 for a client interface of ateamspace template builder in accordance with certain embodiments. Theuser interface 800 shows teamspaces 802 and templates 804. The templates804 include a contract teamspace template (labeled “General Contracts”).

FIGS. 9-13 illustrate how the contract teamspace template was created inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface 900 for a teamspace template builderfor defining a contract teamspace template in accordance with certainembodiments. In user interface 900, a user may enter the following: ateamspace template name 902, a template description 904, and who mayshare the template 906 (e.g., who has access to use the template forcreating a teamspace instance). In this example, everyone has access toselect this template when creating a teamspace instance. Alternatively,a set of users and/or groups may have been identified to have access tothis teamspace template.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface 1000 for selecting searches inaccordance with certain embodiments. With user interface 1000, a usermay select searches (e.g., queries) that are to be part of the teamspacetemplate definitions. Predefined searches may be objects managed in thecontent repository. The searches are used to return documents or foldersthat help the end user complete tasks. In the example of the contractteamspace template, the searches referenced return contract documentscreated by a specific law firm (e.g., search name “Contracts by LawFirm” 1002) or a specific industry sector (e.g., search name “Contractsby Sector” 1004).

FIG. 11 illustrates a user interface 1100 for selecting classes or entrytemplates in accordance with certain embodiments. The classes and/orentry templates are used to index new documents (e.g., contracts) whenthe new documents are added to the teamspace. User interface 1100identifies selected classes 1102.

Classes categorize the type of document being added. A class referencesproperties that further classify what type of document is being added(Property examples of a contract include, for example: document title,authoring division, type of document (long term, short term, lease,etc.), review status, governing law, parties, sector, contract number,etc.). Entry templates may be used to stream line the add/check-inbehavior of a document. An entry template defines what class is going tobe used, predefines the property behavior on the class (e.g. the orderthe properties are presented to the end user, hide specific propertiesof the class, mark certain properties as read only or required, providedefault values, etc.). An entry template may also define defaultsecurity on a document and define if/how/when a document might be routedfor approval/review.

FIG. 12 illustrates a user interface 1200 for selection of folders anddocuments in accordance with certain embodiments. In user interface1200, a Reference Material folder 1202 has documents 1204. As part ofthe contract teamspace template definition, a user can predefine thefolder structure on how documents will be managed in the teamspace. Inaddition the user has the ability to pre-reference what documents areavailable in the teamspace when the teamspace is provisioned by the enduser. As part of the document reference definition, the user can specifywhether a copy of the document is created for each new teamspace createdor whether a link to the same document is used for each new teamspaceinstance. For the contract scenario, a copy of a text document (thatrepresents a contract template) may be created for each teamspaceinstance, and then there may be links to desktop procedures/requirementson what should be covered in a typical contract.

FIG. 13 illustrates a user interface 1300 for predefining roles inaccordance with certain embodiments. The teamspace template builderallows a user to predefine a set of user roles and map what permissionsare available for a given user role. As part of the self-provisioning oronce the teamspace has been created, the end user can add and removeusers/groups to these predefined roles. For the contract template, thereare three roles defined; Owner role (which maps maximum permissions),Member role (maps author and view based permissions), and Reviewer role(maps view based permissions). In FIG. 13, for Member 1302, permissions1304 are shown.

Through the use of teamspace templates and role-based security, ateamspace may be provisioned and managed by non-administrative endusers. Teamspace templates separate the design of teamspaces, and therights to do so, from the right to provision a teamspace. Withembodiments, role-based security is implemented on top of ACL basedsecurity provided by the content repository. The use of role-basedsecurity in teamspaces gives end users the ability to apply security ina way that they can easily understand, while not losing the power of thesecurity model provided by the underlying repositories. Furthermore,role based security may be implemented on different repositories withdifferent underlying security mechanisms, but embodiments provide endusers with an equivalent user experience.

Embodiments enable a content management application to self-provisionteamspaces so business users can quickly bring a team together thatgrants them access to a teamspace within the scope of a larger contentrepository. Embodiments provide customers with the ability to empowertheir line of business users to create and manage their own teamspaceswithout involving their Information Technology (IT) department, whileretaining, archiving, and disposing of artifacts created in theseteamspaces. Embodiments enable business users to organize folders,perform searches, route documents for approval, and manage artifacts(e.g., images and documents). With embodiments, self provisioningenables business users to apply role-based security to their ownteamspaces in a controlled manner.

In certain embodiments, a content space (e.g., a teamspace) isprovisioned by selecting a set of content space characteristics,generating one or more user roles with associated permissions,generating a template including the content space characteristics andthe user roles, and provisioning the content space based on thetemplate. The content space characteristics may include one or more of:one or more content object types, one or more content folders, and zeroor more artifacts within the content folders. The content spacecharacteristics may be defined in one or more content managementsystems.

Managing, Importing, and Exporting Teamspaces

Thus, embodiments allow a content management system 160 toself-provision teamspaces so that business users can quickly bring ateam together that grants them access to a teamspace within the scope ofthe larger enterprise content repository. Thus, users may create andmanage their own teamspaces without involving their InformationTechnology (IT) department.

IT departments provide corporate policy guidance/guidelines on howartifacts created in these teamspaces are reviewed/approved, what lifecycle actions are applied, etc. These policy rules/guidelines may beupdated and applied to existing self-provision projects, as well as,migrated to other content repositories. In addition, as theseself-provision projects end their life cycle, embodiments allowdecommissioning these teamspaces, which requires rules on how teamspaceartifacts are subsequently managed (e.g. are the artifacts deleted,published/repurposed, archived, compliance managed, defensivelydisposed, etc.).

Embodiments build on teamspace templates to allow organizations todevelop teamspace templates that describe the manner in which businessusers generate teamspaces. The teamspace template is used to acceleratethe business user's ability to self-provision teamspaces and to providecorporate policy guidance/guidelines in the area of: review/approveworkflow patterns, life cycle actions applied to the artifacts, how theteamspace is decommissioned, and how the artifacts are managed duringthe decommissioning phase of the teamspace. As policies, rules, andguidelines change, these changes are updated in the teamspace templates,which are then applied to new self-provisioned teamspaces and,optionally, applied to existing self provisioned teamspaces. In additionthese teamspace templates may be exported and imported to otherrepositories.

In embodiments, decomposition rules and/or life cycle rules may beassociated with teamspace templates and/or teamspaces. In certainembodiments, the decomposition rules and/or life cycle rules may beassociated with a teamspace template by being associated with ateamspace template embedded database. In certain embodiments, thedecomposition rules and/or life cycle rules may be associated with ateamspace by being associated with a teamspace embedded database.

FIG. 14 illustrates teamspace templates with decomposition rules andlife cycle rules in accordance with certain embodiments. In FIG. 14, acontent management database 1400 stores user roles 1404, a teamspacetemplate table 1412, and a teamspace table 1422. The teamspace templatetable is associated with an ACL 1414 and a BLOB 1416 to form a teamspacetemplate embedded database 1410, which is associated with decompositionrules and life cycle rules 1420. The teamspace table 1422 is associatedwith an ACL 1424 and a BLOB 1426 to form a teamspace embedded database1420, which is associated with decomposition rules and life cycle rules1430.

FIG. 14 illustrates how teamspaces are stored in the content managementdatabase 1400. Teamspace templates 1412, 1422 may be described as filebased databases that store properties that are used to create theteamspace. The teamspace templates 1412, 1422 may also store thedecomposition rules and life cycle actions of a teamspace. In certainembodiments, the decomposition and life cycle rules 1410, 1420 that areapplied to the teamspace instance are applied all artifacts that areadded to the teamspace.

FIG. 15 illustrates an import/export framework of teamspaces andteamspace teamplates in accordance with certain embodiments. For theexport use case, the user makes a batch request to export one or manyteamspaces (e.g., teamspace instances) and/or teamspace templates. Theapplication server 1500 (which is an example of server computing device150) receives the request, and forwards the request to an AsynchronousTask Manager (ATM) framework 1510, which is able to process asynchronousoperations inside the server application 1500. In certain embodiments,the server application 1500 is a web application server (also referredto as a web container). The ATM framework 1510 makes requests to thecontent management database 1550 (which is an example of contentmanagement database 182) to retrieve the metadata and the teamspacetemplate embedded database for each teamspace template to be exportedand/or the artifacts (e.g., documents and folders) and the teamspaceembedded database for each teamspace to be exported. In certainembodiments, the metadata describes the teamspace or teamspace templateand includes, for example, the teamspace name, teamspace template name,description of the teamspace, description of the teamspace template,etc. In certain embodiments, the teamspace embedded database and theteamspace template embedded database are retrieved from the BLOB field.Once the ATM framework 1510 receives the information needed (e.g., themetadata, the teamspace template embedded database, the artifacts,and/or the teamspace embedded database) the ATM framework 1510 builds an(exported) file 1540. The file 1540 is then return to the clientcomputing device, and the user may use the file as an (imported) file toimport the teamspace and/or teamspace template into another contentmanagement database.

For the case of import, the user submits an (imported) file 1530 to theapplication server 1500. A service running on the application server1500 accepts the file 1530 and parses the data in the file 1530. Incertain embodiments, parsing the data in the file 1530 identifies themetadata, embedded database, artifact, etc. in the file. In certainembodiments, the service also performs validation when parsing the datain the file 1530 to ensure that the file contains the information neededfor the teamspace and/or teamspace template. For a teamspace templatethat is being imported, the service invokes the create teamspace actionwith the data read from the file 1530. The create teamspace actioncreates each teamspace that is in the file 1530. Also, for a teamspacethat is being imported, the service generates a folder structure andimports documents that are included in the teamspace that is beingimported.

In various embodiments, the imported file 1530 and/or the exported file1540 may be JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) files.

FIG. 16 illustrates a user interface 1600 with a list of teamspacetemplates, an export button 1610, and an import button 1620 inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates the user interface 1600 with a teamspace template1710 and the export button 1610 selected in accordance with certainembodiments. In response to selection of the export button 1610,embodiments provide a pop-up 1710 to allow a user to select a locationand name for saving the exported file. Then, the selected teamspacetemplate is exported as that file.

In certain embodiments, the exported file may contain: 1) a teamspace,2) a teamspace template or 3) both the teamspace and the teamspacetemplate.

FIG. 18 illustrates the user interface 1600 with the import button 1620selected in accordance with certain embodiments. In response to theimport button 1620 being selected, embodiments provide pop-up 1810 toallow a user to select a file to be imported. In certain embodiments,the file being imported is one that was previously exported. In certainembodiments, the imported file may contain: 1) a teamspace, 2) ateamspace template or 3) both the teamspace and the teamspace template.

FIG. 19 illustrates the user interface 1600 after a file has beenimported in accordance with certain embodiments. The user interface 1600now shows the imported file 1900, along with a “requires validation”state 1910. In certain embodiments, after a teamspace or teamspacetemplate has been imported, the teamspace or teamspace template is inthe “requires validation” state until the teamspace or teamspacetemplate is opened and validated with the teamspace template builder.

FIG. 20 illustrates a user interface 2000 for a teamspace templatebuilder for validating an imported file in accordance with certainembodiments. The imported file is opened in with the teamspace templatebuilder. The user selects the validate button to save the imported fileto the “publish” state. Once in the “publish” state, the imported filemay be used to create a teamspace instance.

FIG. 21 illustrates in a flow diagram, operations to export a teamspaceand/or teamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.Control begins at block 2100 with the self-provisioning system 110 areceiving selection of a teamspace and/or a teamspace template at afirst content repository. In block 2102, the self-provisioning system110 a receives a request to export the selected teamspace and/orteamspace template from the first content repository to a second contentrepository. In block 2104, the self-provisioning system 110 a retrievesthe selected teamspace template and associated metadata and/or theselected teamspace and associated metadata from the first contentrepository. In block 2106, the self-provisioning system 110 a creates afile to be exported using the retrieved teamspace template and theassociated metadata and/or the retrieved teamspace and the associatedmetadata at the first content repository. In block 2108, theself-provisioning system 110 a exports the created file from the firstcontent repository to the second content repository, wherein the filecan be used to create a teamspace instance at the second contentrepository. In certain embodiments, the created file is exported bybeing saved at the first content repository, the second contentrepository, or another content repository.

FIG. 22 illustrates, in a flow diagram, operations to import a teamspaceand/or a teamspace template in accordance with certain embodiments.Control begins at block 2200 with the self-provisioning system 110 areceiving selection of a file to be imported to a second contentrepository. In block 2202, the provisioning system 110 a receives arequest to import the selected file to the second content repository. Inblock 2204, the provisioning system 110 a imports the selected file atthe second content repository. In certain embodiments, the provisioningsystem 110 imports the selected file by reading the file into memory(e.g., from the second content repository). In block 2206, theprovisioning system 110 a parses and validates the imported file at thesecond content repository. In block 2208, the provisioning system 110 agenerates an entry for a teamspace, an entry for a teamspace template,or entries for both the teamspace and the teamspace template in thesecond content repository based on the content of the file. In block2210, the provisioning system 110 a creates a teamspace instance from agenerated entry at the second content repository.

That is, the file may contain content for a teamspace, a teamspacetemplate or both. In various embodiments, the file contains content formultiple teamspaces and/or teamspace templates. FIG. 4 illustrates atable 400 for a teamspace template or a teamspace and shows the type ofentries that may be created at the second content repository that isimporting the teamspace template and/or teamspace. The parsed andvalidated data of the imported file may be used to create such an entry,with a name of the teamspace or teamspace template obtained from themetadata, a description obtained from the metadata, a BLOB for theteamspace template (e.g., an embedded database), and a state (e.g.,requires validation, offline, published, deleted, archived, etc.)obtained from the metadata. Then, a new teamspace instance may becreated from the entry for the teamspace template in the second contentrepository. In addition, a new teamspace instance may be created fromthe entry for the teamspace in the second content repository.

Once the entries are created, when a teamspace template is used tocreate a teamspace, a copy of the teamspace template embedded databaseis retrieved from the entry and used to create the teamspace embeddeddatabase. In certain embodiments, the teamspace template embeddeddatabase provided by the teamspace template is the base for what isgenerated to create the teamspace instance. A teamspace may extend orchange certain aspects of the teamspace template embedded databaseprovided by the teamspace template, but the teamspace uses the teamspacetemplate embedded database as the starting point. The teamspace templateembedded database provides the roles that are used to apply therole-based security on the teamspace instance, and the teamspacetemplate also contains the role definitions.

Similarly, the decomposition rules and/or lifecycle rules associatedwith the teamspace template embedded database and the teamspace embeddeddatabase are applied to the teamspace instance. With embodiments,teamspace templates may contain policy guidelines for areas such as,life cycle actions, how project areas are decommissioned, etc. Whenthese policies are revised, the new policies may be applied not only tosubsequently-created teamspaces, but also retroactively to existingteamspaces, built from that template. Policy guidelines may include howartifacts managed in a teamspace are reviewed and approved by teamspacerole members. In addition, embodiments allow teamspaces and/or teamspacetemplates to be exported and imported from one content repository toanother content repository.

Embodiments enable migration, archival, and disposition of teamspacesand teamspace templates.

Cloud Computing

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for loadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 23, a schematic of an example of a cloud computingnode is shown. Cloud computing node 2310 is only one example of asuitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of theinvention described herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 2310 iscapable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionalityset forth hereinabove.

In cloud computing node 2310 there is a computer system/server 2312,which is operational with numerous other general purpose or specialpurpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples ofwell-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations thatmay be suitable for use with computer system/server 2312 include, butare not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems,thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 2312 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 2312 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 23, computer system/server 2312 in cloud computing node2310 is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 2312 may include, but are notlimited to, one or more processors or processing units 2316, a systemmemory 2328, and a bus 2318 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 2328 to a processor or processing unit 2316.

Bus 2318 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 2312 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 2312, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 2328 can include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 2330 and/orcache memory 2332. Computer system/server 2312 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 2334 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 2318 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 2328 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 2340, having a set (at least one) of program modules2342, may be stored in memory 2328 by way of example, and notlimitation, as well as an operating system, one or more applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operatingsystem, one or more application programs, other program modules, andprogram data or some combination thereof, may include an implementationof a networking environment. Program modules 2342 generally carry outthe functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention asdescribed herein.

Computer system/server 2312 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 2314 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display2324, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 2312; and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 2312 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaInput/Output (I/O) interfaces 2322. Still yet, computer system/server2312 can communicate with one or more networks such as a local areanetwork (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a publicnetwork (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 2320. As depicted,network adapter 2320 communicates with the other components of computersystem/server 2312 via bus 2318. It should be understood that althoughnot shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used inconjunction with computer system/server 2312. Examples, include, but arenot limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units,external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archivalstorage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 24, illustrative cloud computing environment 2450is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 2450 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 2310 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 2454A, desktop computer 2454B, laptopcomputer 2454C, and/or automobile computer system 2454N may communicate.Nodes 2310 may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (notshown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such asPrivate, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove,or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 2450to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for whicha cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a localcomputing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices2454A-N shown in FIG. 24 are intended to be illustrative only and thatcomputing nodes 2310 and cloud computing environment 2450 cancommunicate with any type of computerized device over any type ofnetwork and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a webbrowser).

Referring now to FIG. 25, a set of functional abstraction layersprovided by cloud computing environment 2450 (FIG. 24) is shown. Itshould be understood in advance that the components, layers, andfunctions shown in FIG. 25 are intended to be illustrative only andembodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, thefollowing layers and corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 2560 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes, in oneexample IBM® zSeries® systems; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)architecture based servers, in one example IBM pSeries® systems; IBMxSeries® systems; IBM BladeCenter® systems; storage devices; networksand networking components. Examples of software components includenetwork application server software, in one example IBM WebSphere®application server software; and database software, in one example IBMDB2® database software. (IBM, zSeries, pSeries, xSeries, BladeCenter,WebSphere, and DB2 are trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation registered in many jurisdictions worldwide).

Virtualization layer 2562 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 2564 may provide the functionsdescribed below. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricingprovide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 2566 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transactionprocessing; and self-provisioning.

Thus, in certain embodiments, software or a program, implementingself-provisioning in accordance with embodiments described herein, isprovided as a service in a cloud environment.

In certain embodiments, the client computing device 100 and/or theserver computing device 150 have the architecture of computing node2310. In certain embodiments, the client computing device 100 and/or theserver computing device 150 is part of a cloud environment. In certainalternative embodiments, the client computing device 100 and/or theserver computing device 150 is not part of a cloud environment.

Additional Embodiment Details

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflow diagram (e.g., flowchart) illustrations and/or block diagrams ofmethods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according toembodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block ofthe flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowcharts illustration,and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartsillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

In addition, the illustrated operations of the flow diagrams and blockdiagrams show certain events occurring in a certain order. Inalternative embodiments, certain operations may be performed in adifferent order, modified or removed. Moreover, operations may be addedto the above described logic and still conform to the describedembodiments. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentiallyor certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further,operations may be performed by a single processing unit or bydistributed processing units.

The code implementing the described operations may further beimplemented in hardware logic or circuitry (e.g., an integrated circuitchip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), etc. The hardware logic may be coupled to a processor toperform operations.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Onthe contrary a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the presentinvention.

Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the likemay be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods andalgorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does notnecessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in thatorder. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in anyorder practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device/article (whether or not theycooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly,where more than one device or article is described herein (whether ornot they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a singledevice/article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead ofthe shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or thefeatures of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more otherdevices which are not explicitly described as having suchfunctionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the present inventionneed not include the device itself.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all)embodiments of the present invention(s)” unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereofmean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of theitems are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of embodiments of the present invention has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the preciseform disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in lightof the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the embodimentsbe limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide acomplete description of the manufacture and use of the composition ofthe embodiments. Since many embodiments may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, the embodiments reside inthe claims hereinafter appended or any subsequently-filed claims, andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: generating, using aprocessor of a computer, a teamspace template from a teamspace templateembedded database having associated rules; creating a file using theteamspace template and associated metadata at a first contentrepository; and exporting the file from the first content repository toa second content repository to be parsed and validated, wherein the filecan be used to create a teamspace instance that inherits the associatedrules at the second content repository.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: importing the file at the second content repositoryto generate an entry for the teamspace template in the second contentrepository; and creating the teamspace instance from the entry for theteamspace template at the second content repository.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the associated rules include a decomposition rule and alife cycle rule.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creatinga new file using a teamspace, associated metadata, and at least oneartifact at the first content repository; and exporting the new filefrom the first content repository to the second content repository,wherein the new file can be used to create a new teamspace instance atthe second content repository.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: importing the new file at the second content repository togenerate an entry for the teamspace in the second content repository;and creating the new teamspace instance from the entry for the teamspaceat the second content repository.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein adecomposition rule and a life cycle rule are associated with theteamspace, and wherein the created new teamspace instance inherits thedecomposition rule and the life cycle rule.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a batch request to export the teamspacetemplate and a teamspace; and exporting the teamspace template and theteamspace from the first content repository to the second contentrepository asynchronously.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein a Softwareas a Service (SaaS) is configured to perform method operations.
 9. Acomputer program product, the computer program product comprising: anon-transitory computer readable storage medium having program codeembodied therewith, the program code executable by at least oneprocessor to perform: generating a teamspace template from a teamspacetemplate embedded database having associated rules; creating a fileusing the teamspace template and associated metadata at a first contentrepository; and exporting the file from the first content repository toa second content repository to be parsed and validated, wherein the filecan be used to create a teamspace instance that inherits the associatedrules at the second content repository.
 10. The computer program productof claim 9, wherein the program code is executable by the at least oneprocessor to perform: importing the file at the second contentrepository to generate an entry for the teamspace template in the secondcontent repository; and creating the teamspace instance from the entryfor the teamspace template at the second content repository.
 11. Thecomputer program product of claim 10, wherein the associated rulesinclude a decomposition rule and a life cycle rule.
 12. The computerprogram product of claim 11, wherein the program code is executable bythe at least one processor to perform: creating a new file using ateamspace, associated metadata, and at least one artifact at the firstcontent repository; and exporting the new file from the first contentrepository to the second content repository, wherein the new file can beused to create a new teamspace instance at the second contentrepository.
 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein theprogram code is executable by the at least one processor to perform:importing the new file at the second content repository to generate anentry for the teamspace in the second content repository; and creatingthe new teamspace instance from the entry for the teamspace at thesecond content repository.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13,wherein a decomposition rule and a life cycle rule are associated withthe teamspace, and wherein the created new teamspace instance inheritsthe decomposition rule and the life cycle rule.
 15. The computer programproduct of claim 9, wherein the program code is executable by the atleast one processor to perform: receiving a batch request to export theteamspace template and a teamspace; and exporting the teamspace templateand the teamspace from the first content repository to the secondcontent repository asynchronously.
 16. The computer program product ofclaim 9, wherein a Software as a Service (SaaS) is configured to performcomputer program product operations.
 17. A computer system, comprising:a processor; and a storage device connected to the processor, whereinthe storage device has stored thereon a program, wherein the processoris configured to execute instructions of the program to performoperations, and wherein the operations comprise: generating a teamspacetemplate from a teamspace template embedded database having associatedrules; creating a file using the teamspace template and associatedmetadata at a first content repository; and exporting the file from thefirst content repository to a second content repository to be parsed andvalidated, wherein the file can be used to create a teamspace instancethat inherits the associated rules at the second content repository. 18.The computer system of claim 17, wherein the operations furthercomprise: importing the file at the second content repository togenerate an entry for the teamspace template in the second contentrepository; and creating the teamspace instance from the entry for theteamspace template at the second content repository.
 19. The computersystem of claim 18, wherein the associated rules include a decompositionrule and a life cycle rule.
 20. The computer system of claim 17, whereina Software as a Service (SaaS) is provided to perform system operations.